Do It Yourself Investing
It seems that many people have a fear of investing and think it's something best left to Wall Street wizards. But it's not really hard to do, especially if you are willing to spend a little time learning the basics, and don't let emotions get in the way.
The internet, TV, and print media are chock-full of information for anyone who wants to give it a try, and now websites like UpDown and Forex.com make it possible for you to try your hand without actually investing any money.
I'm an amateur learning one step at a time, and my aim is to share what I'm learning with anyone who wants to give it a try. So if you want to learn how to be your own investor, read on!
p.s. Don't let the volatility scare you! Educate yourself and learn how to make smart, unemotional decisions. Don't forget, when the market is at the bottom you can find great deals on stocks...
Resources for the self-taught investor
- Yahoo! Finance
- At Yahoo! Finance, you get free stock quotes, up to date news, portfolio management resources, international market data, message boards, and mortgage rates that help you manage your financial life. Full of excellent resources and easy to us.
- cnbc.com
- Home of Jim Cramer's Mad Money, the fun and interesting show Fast Money, and many resources to help you learn and make a few bucks.
- MSN Money
- MSN Money is the comprehensive source for your money and personal finance needs. Read business news, get stock quotes, research investments, track your portfolio and manage your accounts in one place. MSN Money has personal finance planning centers for retirement, college, taxes, insurance, savings,
- Morningstar
- Morningstar is one of the most informative, user-friendly, and popular services for investors. It is probably most famous for its ratings of mutual funds, but at the website you'll also find plenty of information about stocks, hedge funds, ETFs, and other types of investments. The site has a number of investing tools and calculators as well. Morningstar offers both free and premium services.
- FoxBusiness.com
- Business news and financial news from FOXBusiness.com. If it's available on your system (cable, phone, satellite), you should check out Fox's TV channel. I don't have it on my cable system, so I can't tell you much about it. But it's CNBC's competition, and I'd bet Murdoch's team trying to make it good.
- Bloomberg
- The granddaddy of them all! You don't need a fancy (and expensive) piece of equipment to learn from Bloomberg. Just check out the website, and if you have it (cable, satellite, phone), Bloomberg Television.
- ETF Guide
- Exchange-traded funds, also known as ETFs, are low cost index mutual funds that trade like stocks. This site will help you learn all about them.
- LearnInvesting.com
- Information and tools to educate and empower you.
- The Investment FAQ: Home Page
- The Investment FAQ is your clear, concise, and unbiased guide to investments and personal finance. You'll find answers to frequently asked questions about stocks, bonds, mutual funds, options, investment strategies, internet brokers, retirement plans, and much more. Maintained by Christopher Lott.
- Marketwatch
- Stock market auotes, business and financial news, tools and more from MarketWatch.com, a subsidiary of Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
- NASDAQ Stock Market
- The NASDAQ Stock Market - Official site of The NASDAQ Stock Market featuring free stock quotes, stock exchange prices, stock market news, and online stock trading tools.
- American Stock Exchange
- The American Stock Exchange offers trading across a full range of equities, options and exchange traded funds (ETFs), including structured products and HOLDR(SM). The Amex is the pioneer of the ETF.
- New York Stock Exchange
- The New York Stock Exchange traces its origins to 1792, when 24 New York City stockbrokers and merchants signed the Buttonwood Agreement. In the USA, the granddaddy of them all. NYSE Euronext, the holding company, operates the world's largest and most liquid exchange group and offers a diverse array of financial products and services.
Financial Publications Online
get educated!
- Financial Times
- The latest European and international business, finance, economic and political news, comment and analysis from the Financial Times on FT.com
- Fortune
- This is one that I read both in print and online.
- Forbes
- Business and financial news. Warren Buffet shows up in many of their articles.
- Investor's Business Daily
- Detailed stock quotes, charts, business news, investment advice, market research and a stock market learning center.
- Wall Street Journal
- Of course!
- Barron's
- Calls itself the world's leading business publication. At Barrons.com users can access financial investment news online as well as personal finance news.
- SmartMoney
- Find stock market quotes, stock and mutual fund picks, breaking business news, market analysis, personal finance advice and more.
- Money
- Money magazine online
- Kiplinger.com
- Personal finance advice, business forecasting, investing advice, and financial management tools. Kiplinger.com hosts all of the best personal finance advice and business forecasts Kiplinger has to offer.
- BusinessWeek
- International business news & stock market news, updated company profiles, financial advice, global economy and technology news.
- Economist.com
- Authoritative weekly newspaper focusing on international politics and business news and opinion. The print edition is actually a magazine, but they still call themselves a "newspaper." Doesn't matter - it's important reading.
Spotlight!
The Secrets of Economic Indicators: Hidden Clues to Future Economic Trends and Investment Opportunities
Learn how to use economic indicators indicators to make smarter investment decisions, just like the professionals do. You don't need an economics degree, or a CPA... just this easy-to-use book.
The Secrets of Economic Indicators: Hidden Clues to Future Economic Trends and Investment Opportunities, 2nd Edition
Amazon Price: $12.91 (as of 07/10/2009)
List Price: $18.99
Used Price: $10.69
Usually ships in 24 hours
Practice Investing Without Risk!
a good way to get your feet wet....
UpDown is a great way to get started without any risk. It's a social network for virtual investing that provides a platform where investors can practice investing and read high-quality stock analysis.
That by itself is great, but there's more - you can earn money too, based on how much your portfolio beats the S&P 500 index in any given month and how well your portfolio did in the past. UpDown has a number of groups that you can join, and it's also a good place for investment clubs to hang out. The site is definitely worth a look! Visit UpDown.com.
Online resources for getting started
- How to invest in the stock market without a broker
- How to Invest in the Stock Market Without a Broker from eHow is a good place to start.
- How Individual Investors Can Participate in Stock Investing
- A description of how individual investors can participate in stock investing, with LOTS of links to additional information.
The Curious Capitalist
Justin Fox
Time magazine's business and economics columnist comments on the economy, the markets, and the strange ways of business....
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byMad Money Mad ReCap
The latest posts from Mad Money
The Mad Cap Recap gives you real-time summaries of each night's show. Learn from Cramer!
Fetching RSS feed... please stand bySome helpful books to get you started
If you can't find these books at your library, get them here
Glad to take your money!
- Sharebuilder.com
- ShareBuilder, a service of ING, is one good place for beginners to start. It offers automatic investing which allows you to buy stocks in whole dollar amounts. For the more advanced, ShareBuilder offers real-time trades, options trading, and margin borrowing.
Learn how to trade in the foreign exchange market with NO risk
Stock Market News
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byTalk Stock Trading
"where talk is money"
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byCramer and CNBC on YouTube
Can't Get Enough of MadMoney with Jim Cramer?
Squidoo has given us this great widget with the bobblehead!
Fast Money Rapid Recap
Official synopsis of the Fast Money TV show
Watch Fast Money - these guys and gals are outspoken, fun, smart, and entertaining. And they can help you make some money fast, even if you are an investing newbie.
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byBloggingStocks
BloggingStocks covers some of America's most widely-held stocks. I've found it to be a good place to learn.
(Personal note: as an eBay seller, I've especially enjoyed the coverage of eBay AND the comments posted by readers of the eBay blog.)
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byWho doesn't love Dylan Ratigan?
Or Maria Bartiromo?
....or Larry Kudlow?
What have YOU learned?
Have you learned something about investing that you want to share with others? Please tell us about it here.
markhervias wrote...
Check this out! a 10 bagger possible? http://pilipinostockmarket.blogspot.com
Posted June 06, 2009
Silver_Lotus wrote...
Thanks for visiting. I definitely appreciate your idea about not taking advice from someone who's trying to sell you something. With the stock market, that's a bit like having an antique appraised by the dealer who is going to buy it from you!
Posted November 11, 2008
WritingforYourWealth wrote...
Nice lens.
Hm, I've learned not to take investment advice from anyone who is trying to sell me something or has a lot invested in maintaining the status quo. In short, I ignore most of the advice that comes out of Wall Street and listen to people who have made their fortunes already (and not from selling hedge funds, lol).
Posted November 11, 2008
donnyg18 wrote...
This is a very good lens you have built here a lot of good informative information. Make sure you add my lens to your lens roll
Posted October 15, 2008
anilg wrote...
Nice lens with lots of useful information. If you are willing to make money online, then please visit my lens
Posted June 26, 2008
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